Practitioners of indigenous African religions do not view celibacy in a positive way because it upsets the social and religious order and the necessity to propagate the species. Celibate individuals ...
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Practitioners of indigenous African religions do not view celibacy in a positive way because it upsets the social and religious order and the necessity to propagate the species. Celibate individuals are treated with contempt along with sterile people because they are unproductive. Among the Yoruba, celibacy is a matter of class and not religion, and celibacy is associated with the need for loyalty, trust, and protection of royal blood.Less

A Social‐Cultural Analysis of Celibacy among the Yoruba : Oyo Alafin's Servants as a Case Study

Oyeronke Olajubu

Published in print: 2007-11-01

Practitioners of indigenous African religions do not view celibacy in a positive way because it upsets the social and religious order and the necessity to propagate the species. Celibate individuals are treated with contempt along with sterile people because they are unproductive. Among the Yoruba, celibacy is a matter of class and not religion, and celibacy is associated with the need for loyalty, trust, and protection of royal blood.

Synopsis: The chapter describes the creation of a new social order to replace the one based on slavery and the slave trade, with new structures of local leadership setting a new standard. The chapter ...
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Synopsis: The chapter describes the creation of a new social order to replace the one based on slavery and the slave trade, with new structures of local leadership setting a new standard. The chapter begins with Garrick Braide in Nigeria's Delta region and continues with revival ferment in Yoruba country, and in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, thanks to the work of the charismatic Harris. Both Catholic and Protestant missions were thereby renewed. The chapter considers African and Islamic models of religion in contrast to missionary and colonial practice. Primal religious ideas and materials in the appropriation of Christianity are investigated in terms of attitudes to the irrational, modern medicine, divination, divine efficacy, salvation, suffering, and divine goodness. The chapter contrasts the appeal of Christianity with opposition to colonial rule, and thus the African acceptance of salvation‐without‐strings with the rejection of conversion by political subjugation.Less

Resurgence and the New Order in West Africa : Primal Pillar

Lamin Sanneh

Published in print: 2008-01-01

Synopsis: The chapter describes the creation of a new social order to replace the one based on slavery and the slave trade, with new structures of local leadership setting a new standard. The chapter begins with Garrick Braide in Nigeria's Delta region and continues with revival ferment in Yoruba country, and in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, thanks to the work of the charismatic Harris. Both Catholic and Protestant missions were thereby renewed. The chapter considers African and Islamic models of religion in contrast to missionary and colonial practice. Primal religious ideas and materials in the appropriation of Christianity are investigated in terms of attitudes to the irrational, modern medicine, divination, divine efficacy, salvation, suffering, and divine goodness. The chapter contrasts the appeal of Christianity with opposition to colonial rule, and thus the African acceptance of salvation‐without‐strings with the rejection of conversion by political subjugation.

Presents conceptions of secrecy West Africans brought with them to Brazil: the interpretive separation of superficial appearance from “deep knowledge,” the face presented in public (ori ode) versus ...
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Presents conceptions of secrecy West Africans brought with them to Brazil: the interpretive separation of superficial appearance from “deep knowledge,” the face presented in public (ori ode) versus the inner head (ori inu), the layered nature of knowledge, which is ultimately bottomless, and the secret society of the Ogboni earth cult among the Yoruba. Additionally, the chapter recounts the nineteenth‐century context and motivations for a second historical layer of secrecy generated in response to repressive slave laws and policing, and the construal of Candomblé as illegal sorcery. Candomblé is interpreted as a secret society that was both built upon West African ideals of secrecy and constructed in Brazil as a religion that was seen, but not penetrated, and whose members concealed their affiliations with the orixás. Finally, in a third use of secrecy, the chapter demonstrates how masters with reason to fear it attributed extraordinary powers to exotic Candomblé.Less

Slaves and Secrets

Paul Christopher Johnson

Published in print: 2002-08-29

Presents conceptions of secrecy West Africans brought with them to Brazil: the interpretive separation of superficial appearance from “deep knowledge,” the face presented in public (ori ode) versus the inner head (ori inu), the layered nature of knowledge, which is ultimately bottomless, and the secret society of the Ogboni earth cult among the Yoruba. Additionally, the chapter recounts the nineteenth‐century context and motivations for a second historical layer of secrecy generated in response to repressive slave laws and policing, and the construal of Candomblé as illegal sorcery. Candomblé is interpreted as a secret society that was both built upon West African ideals of secrecy and constructed in Brazil as a religion that was seen, but not penetrated, and whose members concealed their affiliations with the orixás. Finally, in a third use of secrecy, the chapter demonstrates how masters with reason to fear it attributed extraordinary powers to exotic Candomblé.

Bishop Samuel Crowther was the first African bishop ordained by the Church Missionary Society in 1943. This chapter discusses Christian life during this age. Aspects covered are ‘Black Europeans’ (a ...
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Bishop Samuel Crowther was the first African bishop ordained by the Church Missionary Society in 1943. This chapter discusses Christian life during this age. Aspects covered are ‘Black Europeans’ (a reference to the fact that many Africans were more English than the English); Crowther and the Niger Diocese; Yoruba Christianity; the South African predicament of too many white missionaries; Buganda—conversion, martyrdom, and civil war in the 1880s; revival in the ancient kingdom of Kongo; and the Niger purge.Less

Christian Life in the Age of Bishop Crowther

Adrian Hastings

Published in print: 1996-03-07

Bishop Samuel Crowther was the first African bishop ordained by the Church Missionary Society in 1943. This chapter discusses Christian life during this age. Aspects covered are ‘Black Europeans’ (a reference to the fact that many Africans were more English than the English); Crowther and the Niger Diocese; Yoruba Christianity; the South African predicament of too many white missionaries; Buganda—conversion, martyrdom, and civil war in the 1880s; revival in the ancient kingdom of Kongo; and the Niger purge.

This chapter covers the growing independency and prophetism of Christian African Churches in the period from the late nineteenth century to 1960. The first section covers ‘African Churches’ in ...
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This chapter covers the growing independency and prophetism of Christian African Churches in the period from the late nineteenth century to 1960. The first section covers ‘African Churches’ in Nigeria and South Africa from 1888 to 1917. Further sections cover the rise of Zionism; Elliot Kenan Kamwana—an influential Tongan religious enthusiast; Harrists (named after the Liberian prophet William Wade Harris) and Kimbanguists (named after Simon Kimbangu, a Kongan prophet); the Aladura (the praying people of the Faith Tabernacle (outside the Anglican Church) in Yorubaland) and the Cherubim and Seraphim Society; East and Central Africa from the end of the 1920s; independency in the 1950s; Protestant causative factions and motivations at work within the Christian movement; and the character of prophetic Christianity.Less

From Agbebi to Diangienda: Independency and Prophetism

Adrian Hastings

Published in print: 1996-03-07

This chapter covers the growing independency and prophetism of Christian African Churches in the period from the late nineteenth century to 1960. The first section covers ‘African Churches’ in Nigeria and South Africa from 1888 to 1917. Further sections cover the rise of Zionism; Elliot Kenan Kamwana—an influential Tongan religious enthusiast; Harrists (named after the Liberian prophet William Wade Harris) and Kimbanguists (named after Simon Kimbangu, a Kongan prophet); the Aladura (the praying people of the Faith Tabernacle (outside the Anglican Church) in Yorubaland) and the Cherubim and Seraphim Society; East and Central Africa from the end of the 1920s; independency in the 1950s; Protestant causative factions and motivations at work within the Christian movement; and the character of prophetic Christianity.

In Western Africa, practices of clientage were applied to incorporate merchants for as long as they accepted the terms of trade and residence. The establishment of imperial enclaves modified this ...
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In Western Africa, practices of clientage were applied to incorporate merchants for as long as they accepted the terms of trade and residence. The establishment of imperial enclaves modified this dependency. Governors and consuls worked for a wider sphere of influence through African allies, treaty states, and stipending chiefs. Reversal of status from the 1870s followed from greater reliance on treaty jurisdiction and use of force against the Asante, some Yoruba states and the Hausa–Fulani emirates. But officials had to come to terms with the chiefdoms and hierarchies they found to meet the obligations of protectorate administration. Chiefs were utilized for judicial and financial purposes as official clients. In each of the colonial states the pattern of over-rule was conditioned by local political structures. Administrative histories provide contrasting examples of the decline of chieftaincy or its empowerment, in the face of elite competition in local government and in state politics during decolonization.Less

Western Africa

COLIN NEWBURY

Published in print: 2003-01-02

In Western Africa, practices of clientage were applied to incorporate merchants for as long as they accepted the terms of trade and residence. The establishment of imperial enclaves modified this dependency. Governors and consuls worked for a wider sphere of influence through African allies, treaty states, and stipending chiefs. Reversal of status from the 1870s followed from greater reliance on treaty jurisdiction and use of force against the Asante, some Yoruba states and the Hausa–Fulani emirates. But officials had to come to terms with the chiefdoms and hierarchies they found to meet the obligations of protectorate administration. Chiefs were utilized for judicial and financial purposes as official clients. In each of the colonial states the pattern of over-rule was conditioned by local political structures. Administrative histories provide contrasting examples of the decline of chieftaincy or its empowerment, in the face of elite competition in local government and in state politics during decolonization.

An iconic symbol and sound of the Lucumí/Santería religion, Afro-Cuban batá are talking drums that express the epic mythological narratives of the West African Yoruba deities known as orisha. By ...
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An iconic symbol and sound of the Lucumí/Santería religion, Afro-Cuban batá are talking drums that express the epic mythological narratives of the West African Yoruba deities known as orisha. By imitating aspects of speech and song, and by metaphorically referencing salient attributes of the deities, batá drummers facilitate the communal praising of orisha in a music ritual known as a toque de santo. This book blends musical transcription, musical analysis, interviews, ethnographic descriptions, and observations from his own experience as a ritual drummer to highlight the complex variables at work during a live Lucumí performance. Integral in enabling trance possessions by the orisha, by far the most dramatic expressions of Lucumí faith, batá drummers are also entrusted with controlling the overall ebb and flow of the four- to six-hour toque de santo. During these events, batá drummers combine their knowledge of ritual with an extensive repertoire of rhythms and songs. Musicians focus on the many thematic acts that unfold both concurrently and in quick succession. In addition to creating an emotionally charged environment, playing salute rhythms for the orisha, and supporting the playful song competitions that erupt between singers, batá drummers are equally dedicated to nurturing their own drumming community by creating a variety of opportunities for the musicians to grow artistically and creatively.Less

Kenneth Schweitzer

Published in print: 2013-02-01

An iconic symbol and sound of the Lucumí/Santería religion, Afro-Cuban batá are talking drums that express the epic mythological narratives of the West African Yoruba deities known as orisha. By imitating aspects of speech and song, and by metaphorically referencing salient attributes of the deities, batá drummers facilitate the communal praising of orisha in a music ritual known as a toque de santo. This book blends musical transcription, musical analysis, interviews, ethnographic descriptions, and observations from his own experience as a ritual drummer to highlight the complex variables at work during a live Lucumí performance. Integral in enabling trance possessions by the orisha, by far the most dramatic expressions of Lucumí faith, batá drummers are also entrusted with controlling the overall ebb and flow of the four- to six-hour toque de santo. During these events, batá drummers combine their knowledge of ritual with an extensive repertoire of rhythms and songs. Musicians focus on the many thematic acts that unfold both concurrently and in quick succession. In addition to creating an emotionally charged environment, playing salute rhythms for the orisha, and supporting the playful song competitions that erupt between singers, batá drummers are equally dedicated to nurturing their own drumming community by creating a variety of opportunities for the musicians to grow artistically and creatively.

This book challenges the seasoned trend of disavowing Africa in the Black Atlantic, showing how Yoruba cultural frameworks from West Africa remade black kingdoms and communities in the Americas. ...
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This book challenges the seasoned trend of disavowing Africa in the Black Atlantic, showing how Yoruba cultural frameworks from West Africa remade black kingdoms and communities in the Americas. Highlighting revisionary strategies and regenerative schemes that are grounded in the dialectics of ritual renewal, it revisits classic topoi in Afro-American studies such as Herskovits’s syncretic paradigm, the petwo paradox in Haitian Vodou, the historical conditions of orisha cult clustering, re-mappings of gender in plantation societies, and the rise of Lucumí and Nagô houses in Cuba and Brazil, in each case offering new interpretations based on cognate dynamics in Yorubaland. The book thereby argues for a critically reformulated culture concept, in this case distinctively “Yoruba,” which designates something real, somewhat knowable, eminently historical, and even indispensable for locating Africa in the Black Atlantic.Less

Oduduwa's Chain : Locations of Culture in the Yoruba-Atlantic

Andrew Apter

Published in print: 2017-11-30

This book challenges the seasoned trend of disavowing Africa in the Black Atlantic, showing how Yoruba cultural frameworks from West Africa remade black kingdoms and communities in the Americas. Highlighting revisionary strategies and regenerative schemes that are grounded in the dialectics of ritual renewal, it revisits classic topoi in Afro-American studies such as Herskovits’s syncretic paradigm, the petwo paradox in Haitian Vodou, the historical conditions of orisha cult clustering, re-mappings of gender in plantation societies, and the rise of Lucumí and Nagô houses in Cuba and Brazil, in each case offering new interpretations based on cognate dynamics in Yorubaland. The book thereby argues for a critically reformulated culture concept, in this case distinctively “Yoruba,” which designates something real, somewhat knowable, eminently historical, and even indispensable for locating Africa in the Black Atlantic.

This chapter discusses the attitudes of specific ethnic groups in Nigeria and Africa toward fertility, family size, and abortion. It examines some of the sayings, proverbs, and societal practices to ...
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This chapter discusses the attitudes of specific ethnic groups in Nigeria and Africa toward fertility, family size, and abortion. It examines some of the sayings, proverbs, and societal practices to aid our understanding of the general cultural beliefs about what constitutes appropriate family size and actual practices extant in the country. The main focus of this chapter is the cultural tradition of the Yoruba community and the sociocultural factors that influence their ideal of a large family size. One of these factors is the insurance strategy. This is the practice of having more than the desired number of children because of the fear of infant and child mortality, and to ensure survivorship of the sons to continue lineage.Less

FUNMI TOGONU-BICKERSTETH

Published in print: 2003-04-03

This chapter discusses the attitudes of specific ethnic groups in Nigeria and Africa toward fertility, family size, and abortion. It examines some of the sayings, proverbs, and societal practices to aid our understanding of the general cultural beliefs about what constitutes appropriate family size and actual practices extant in the country. The main focus of this chapter is the cultural tradition of the Yoruba community and the sociocultural factors that influence their ideal of a large family size. One of these factors is the insurance strategy. This is the practice of having more than the desired number of children because of the fear of infant and child mortality, and to ensure survivorship of the sons to continue lineage.

This essay explores the concept of destiny in Yoruba philosophical discourse. It argues that the Yoruba concept of destiny is complex, and that this complexity may be the source of the problems ...
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This essay explores the concept of destiny in Yoruba philosophical discourse. It argues that the Yoruba concept of destiny is complex, and that this complexity may be the source of the problems encountered by scholars. References to the concept of destiny in traditional Yoruba philosophy, the problem of choice, interconnectedness of destinies, individual and communal destinies, reincarnation, and the significance of destiny are discussed.Less

An Outline of a Theory of Destiny

Segun Gbadegesin

Published in print: 2004-02-12

This essay explores the concept of destiny in Yoruba philosophical discourse. It argues that the Yoruba concept of destiny is complex, and that this complexity may be the source of the problems encountered by scholars. References to the concept of destiny in traditional Yoruba philosophy, the problem of choice, interconnectedness of destinies, individual and communal destinies, reincarnation, and the significance of destiny are discussed.